


Thanks for the Memories

by lumberwoof



Category: RWBY
Genre: Agender Character, F/F, Minor Character Death, Pacific Rim AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-26
Updated: 2015-03-26
Packaged: 2018-03-19 17:41:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3618543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumberwoof/pseuds/lumberwoof
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yang and Ruby are newly minted pilots in the Jaeger program who come from a family of estranged Jaeger pilots. When the opportunity to learn about her biological mother arises, Yang takes the chance and damns the consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thanks for the Memories

**Author's Note:**

> Warning note: this fic will have Blake/Yang in it and is written with Raven and Blake having a parent-child relationship. however, Blake is not blood-related to Raven or Yang and has no relationship with Yang prior to the story. (assuming Raven is Yang's biological mother.) just a heads up in case that makes you uncomfortable.

“I’m so proud of you.”

Yang ignored the sharp stone in her throat, the prick at her eyes, as Taiyang released her to hug Ruby. The circuitry pattern burned into the skin of his right arm stole her attention, a permanent reminder of Summer’s last moments. The painful squeeze around Yang’s heart that always followed had grown soft over the years.

Or maybe she had just grown numb.

“Summer would be so proud, too.”

Yang curbed her tongue, swallowed ‘And what about, Raven?’ to force a smile instead. “Thanks, Dad,” she said, and almost winced at how insincere the words sounded.

Taiyang didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, he didn’t seem to care. He rested his wide palm on her shoulder, smiling softly up at her. The glassy sheen in his eyes came and went with a blink, his hand squeezing affectionately. “It seems like only yesterday you barely came up to my waist, always wanting to ride on my shoulders so you could be taller. Well, now look at you - definitely taller.”

That made Yang crack a real smile. She reached up, fingers trailing over his rough knuckles. Calloused fingers brushed along Yang’s bare arm and slipped into her palm as Ruby stepped closer, the gravity of what was to come leaving the three bereft of words. Yang’s fingers dropped from her dad’s hand to tangle in the chain of her dog tags, trying to find the words - any words - that would break the silence, but nothing came. The smiles started to fade and Taiyang stepped back, clearing his throat.

“You two, uh, must be tired after all that testing today,” he said, letting go of his daughters to stubbornly wipe at his eyes. “I’ll let you get to bed.”

Seeing her dad cry was never easy, and these tears were born from sadness just as much as joy - he knew exactly what sort of fate they faced and bore the evidence of it every day. Yang tried to reassure him, to tell him that she’d keep Ruby safe, but the words clogged her throat. Ruby flung herself into another hug with him, squeezing until a breathless laugh escaped his lips. Her fingers trailed behind to fix the collar of his jacket, reluctant to end what could be their last embrace for several months. “We’ll call tomorrow, okay?”

“I’ll be waiting, kiddo.”

“Tell Uncle Qrow and Auntie Raven we said hi.”

Yang shifted her weight, crossing her arms over her suddenly tight chest. Auntie Raven was a bit of a misnomer, as that implied an actual relationship between Raven and the sisters. Raven Branwen was, to put it lightly, a workaholic - forever buried in work, even when off-duty, and never seeming to care about the loved ones - about the daughter - left behind. As the face of the Jaeger program with Qrow, Yang had seen Raven’s face on billboards and in training videos more times than she’d seen it in person. The only consistent communication were the three cards sent every year - one for the holidays and one for each of the girl’s birthdays, all bundled together and sent during the spring, and all signed with a cheap “sincerely” where there should’ve been “love.”

At least Qrow had the decency to visit them in person.

Still, Yang ached for Raven’s attention, couldn’t beat it out of herself no matter how hard she tried. “Yeah,” she muttered, bitter at her own weakness.

Taiyang glanced at her for a moment, gaze heavy, and there was a part of her that just wanted to sink in on herself. She wanted to guard all the vulnerabilities she knew he could see, because they were ones that he shared. He turned his gaze back to Ruby and smiled lopsidedly. “Of course I’ll them.”

He did nothing to assuage the fears that had plagued Yang ever since she’d found out about her heritage. He never did anything. She let out the breath she’d been holding with a huff, wondering why she’d ever held it in the first place, and turned on her heel to leave. Her dad’s guilty stare burned into her back, weighed on her and made her steps heavy as she walked back to the dorm. She wished she could just shake it all off. Why was she the one who had to bear the brunt of his past inaction?

Yang barely heard the murmured farewells exchanged in the hall as she collapsed into her bunk. The thick steel door to the room slammed shut as Ruby came in behind her. Neither of them spoke as Ruby clambered into the top bunk, the mattress squeaking and dipping under her weight.

Apprehensive silence drowned the room for what felt like minutes, and Yang felt her stomach turn, nauseous at the conversation she knew was to come.

“Yang…” Ruby said, concern evident in her voice, but she didn’t say anymore. Perhaps she was waiting for her sister to respond or maybe she just didn’t know what to say next.

Either way, Yang refused to speak, refused to talk about this. The thought alone had bile rising in her throat. If Raven wanted to be a mother then Yang shouldn’t be the one to make the first move. As far as Yang was concerned, Summer had been her real mother, the one who’d raised her with Taiyang while Qrow and Raven jumped from remote location to remote location, piloting the Jaeger that had been nicknamed the “Grimm Reaper” by civilians.

Everyone knew about the Branwen twins, who chased and hunted Grimm to the ends of the world. Pilots and civvies idolized them, fawning over everything from their unique Jaeger model to their perfect drop:kill record. And yet, where had they been when their family had needed them?

Where had they been when Summer had needed them?

Yang squeezed her eyes shut and rolled on to her side, chest tight and gulping for air. The top bunk squeaked again and Yang felt the heat of shame surge to her face, quickly boiling over into anger she directed at herself for losing her composure so easily when Ruby was right there. Her sister said nothing, though, despite the palpable concern that flooded the room, and for that Yang was grateful. She wiped at her eyes and focused on settling her breathing, desperate to save face and keep her inner turmoil tightly bottled.

The room slowly fell into a comfortable silence before Ruby spoke.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow, too?”

“A little bit.” The nervousness was a welcome distraction from the much more volatile emotions stewing in Yang’s gut.

“Do you think we’ll be good partners?”

“I don’t see why we wouldn’t be,” Yang lied.

* * *

 

“Wait. Why do I need to find a co-pilot?” Ruby asked, tugging her jacket back on as she slid off the examination table. “Wasn’t my compatibility with Yang high enough?”

Dr. Oobleck paused in the middle of this tangent and started flipping through the files in Ruby’s folder. The fluorescent lights caught his glasses just right and gave them an ominous shine as he dug through the pages in his hands. His fast, jittery movements put Ruby ill at ease, her stomach dropping as he froze and narrowed his eyes, frown deepening.

Darting his hand through his wildly unkempt hair, Dr. Oobleck licked his lips before speaking. “It, uh—it says here that the score is good, but the board would prefer better. So, we’re just checking to see if there’s a better match. Standard procedure,” he lied.

The explanation made sense but Ruby couldn’t stop the oily thoughts that slithered in. What if she found a better partner but Yang didn’t? What if Yang found a better partner and she was left alone?

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Ruby steeled her heart and clasped her hands behind her back, thumb digging a painful crescent into the meat of her palm. Her face fell into as neutral of an expression as she could manage. “I understand.”

* * *

The first batch of potential partners were unmemorable, and the second batch had been looking the same up until now. The other pilots whispered amongst themselves as Ruby’s latest opponent settled herself. Weiss Schnee, daughter of Alabaster Schnee and one of two heirs to the multinational Schnee Dust Company, had made headlines (moreso than usual) when word of her enrollment in the Jaeger program had leaked to the press.

Ruby didn’t see what the big deal was, personally, and didn’t much care for the distracting hum of gossiping students because of it.

“You call that stance proper?”

Ruby cursed under her breath, caught off-guard, and shifted her grip on her quarterstaff, focusing back on Weiss. For all her sharply-coated words and celebrity status, she looked less comfortable than Ruby did - arms trembling and hands constantly searching for a better hold on her own quarterstaff. That hesitation was enough to tell Ruby all she needed to know. She breathed out, relaxed her stance as she exhaled the tension from her shoulders and the irritation from her chest.

Weiss frowned and shifted her own stance in response, and Ruby took that moment to move, lunging forward with great speed. The first strike disarmed Weiss before she was properly prepared, and Ruby swept her legs before she had any time to regain her bearings. Pinning her hands above her, Ruby straddled her waist, feeling triumph in the icy glare sent her way.

“When your results are as good as mine, then you can lecture me about technique,” Ruby growled.

She pushed up and off, heading back to her side of the floor, something venomous curdling in her heart. Just as she settled back into her stance, toes curling against the mat, Weiss lunged. Ruby floundered under the flurry of strikes, barely able to defend herself until finally, a solid blow wrenched her quarterstaff from her fingers and she went tumbling backwards. Planting one foot on Ruby’s ribs, Weiss pinned Ruby to the floor, tip of her staff brushing the underside of Ruby’s chin like the point of a sword.

“Last I checked, my results were better than yours,” Weiss said, blue eyes boring into Ruby. “And I have read your file, Ruby Rose. So, let me repeat myself that you might actually hear it this time around - you call that stance proper?”

Ruby huffed and shoved away the foot on her chest, quickly rolling to her feet. Something hot burned through her veins - a good anger that tugged up on the corners of her mouth. She picked up her quarterstaff and looked back to Weiss, unable describe why she felt empowered by this challenge when she would usually feel disheartened.

She slid into a proper stance this time, mouth curling into a grin. “How about this?”

* * *

Ruby tucked her helmet under her arm, suit a glowing white that felt out of place on her but looked all too fitting on Weiss. “Nervous?”

Ruffling the newly shorn locks on her head, Weiss pursed her lips. “I admit I’m not fond of the idea of having someone else in my head, but I’ve long since come to terms with what needs to be done.”

Ruby felt apprehension tug her mouth into an anxious smile, emotions going haywire under the pressure. “I was expecting to be partnered with my sister, to be honest, but if we’re a better match then I guess this is the right decision. I mean, my parents met this way so the numbers must mean something, right?” Her smile faltered, and a blush flooded her cheeks at the implication of her own words. “Uh, not that I think—I mean, well—not that we’re going to end up like my parents or anything.”

She meant married, but her brain quickly reminded her that her parents ended up with one dead and the other unable to continue his service. The smile dropped from her face and though Weiss tossed her a suspicious glance, she said nothing.

Ruby fiddled with her helmet, unsure of how to explain the emotions twisting in her gut. Not that it mattered, she realized, since they’d be in each other’s heads soon enough.

* * *

“Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t want to be my partner?”

Yang winced, tray clattering on the table harder than usual. She stared into her plate of scrambled eggs and toast as if it held some sort of deeper meaning. How had Ruby even found out about that? She supposed there was a note documenting her request (though not her reason) to not be partnered together somewhere in Ruby’s file, but she hadn’t expected Ruby to read it.

She sighed. Since Summer’s death and their father’s emotional withdrawal, Yang had been Ruby’s protector, her caretaker, her anchor. How would Ruby be okay with the anger that constantly bubbled just below the surface, ready to erupt at a moment’s notice? How could Yang let Ruby into her head when she had so many things that she fought to keep hidden?

She couldn’t.

“I love you, Ruby,” she said, pushing around her food with her plastic fork. “But I just… our scores weren’t great and I knew you could find someone better. I didn’t want to upset you.”

Ruby didn’t know what to say, instead shoveling a mess of pancake, bacon, and syrup into her mouth. The time it took to chew and swallow was enough to come up with a response. By then, Yang still hadn’t taken a bite of her own breakfast, still pushing her eggs around her plate.

“It’s okay,” Ruby said. It wasn’t okay. “Did you find a good match?”

Yang picked up a piece of toast and dropped it again. “No, not yet.”

The base’s PA system came on. “Pilots Rose and Schnee, please report to your Jaeger for immediate deployment.”

Ruby almost choked on her fork, still in the middle of cramming another helping of food into her mouth. She slammed back her glass of orange juice, pounding the table as she forced herself to swallow. “That’s me!” she said. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, Rubes,” Yang said, solemnly. “Stay safe, ya hear?”

Ruby was already racing off to her post while trying to jam on her helmet mid-sprint. Stomach twisted in knots, Yang looked down at her own food and sighed, dropping her fork before shoving away the tray with a noise of disgust.

* * *

Ruby woke up in the infirmary. It took a few moments to gain her bearings, and a few more for panic to set in as she tried to locate her co-pilot. But Weiss was only a few feet away, sleeping in the bed next to Ruby. Nothing looked out of place or missing, and Ruby exhaled the breath she’d been holding.

“Nice of you to wake up.”

Yang sat on the edge of the bed, holding Ruby’s hand, and Ruby was embarrassed that she hadn’t noticed her own sister until Yang had spoken.

“What happened?” Ruby croaked. “Is Weiss okay?”

The smiled that pulled at Yang’s mouth silenced Ruby, and Yang chuckled at her sister’s antics. “Weiss is fine. She’s already been cleared but didn’t want to leave while her co-pilot was still here. You’re fine, too, by the way. Just conked your head a bit. As for what happened, well… what do you remember?”

The drift. The way her partner’s quiet confidence in her had eased her nerves and how she could feel herself doing the same for Weiss. The lift as their Jaeger was picked up and the carrier took them to the drop zone. Then… “We were dropping and then… and then… I don’t know.”

Her brain felt tight and there was a fuzzy memory of Weiss attempting to make a joke as the latches released them. Then there was nothing.

Yang nodded, as if she expected as much. “The Grimm got you mid-drop.”

“What happened to the Grimm? How did we…?” How was she not dead? Had Weiss had to pilot by herself?

Yang’s face fell and she looked over her shoulder, through the clear glass wall of the room, to where Taiyang stood, conversing with Raven and Qrow. The twins were in their hardsuits, tired and sweaty, dark hair matted to their faces and helmets tucked under their arms.

Ruby tightened her fingers around Yang’s hand. “Have you talked to—”

“No.”

“Yang.”

“If Raven wants to talk—” Yang cut herself off, frustrated. “Raven can come to me, not the other way around.”

“Yang—”

“Ruby!”

Ruby flinched and Yang sighed, brows furrowed as she released her sister’s hand, rubbing her shoulder as her eyes wandered anywhere but Ruby’s face. “Just drop it,” she said. Her hand moved from her shoulder to run through her strangely messy hair. “I’m sorry for yelling. Look, I gotta go, but I’ll see you later.” She squeezed Ruby’s hand and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

* * *

Raven and Qrow left long before the day ended and without so much as a goodbye, duty calling them to somewhere far away. Yang remained silent on the matter, despite Ruby’s prodding questions. Instead, she focused her energies on trying to help Ruby with her post-concussion symptoms. Yang found herself sidelined, however, by Weiss, who reacted faster to Ruby’s needs than Yang had ever been able to. A side-effect of being co-pilots, Yang knew, but she she still felt like she was being replaced.

Lonely and unable to distract herself from the curdling emotions inside, Yang spent the passing days in the gym, barely able to expend her anger faster than it built up inside. Even a week after Ruby’s injury, Yang was still abusing the gym equipment with violent strikes and a clenched jaw. She’d gone through three punching bags already, the mat below her feet gritty with spilled sand. A harsh knee made the fourth bag groan.

The seam was close to splitting when the sirens in the base started going off. Startled and breathing heavy, Yang steadied the bag and rested on it, listening for any hint of what was going on outside. All she could hear was the chaos of hundreds of boots thundering down the hallways.

The heavy groan of the massive loading bay gates opening resonated throughout the base, audible even over the deafening howl of the alarms. Yang ripped off the tape around her wrists and race out of the gym to the docking bay, shoving through a sea of bodies. Her mind ran over the list of pilots at the base, trying to figure out would be out there, who would be being brought in. She came up blank.

If no one had been deployed from the base then who would—Raven and Qrow. Raven and Qrow would seek help there if they needed to. Yang’s blood ran cold and she pushed even harder through the masses to the bridge where Ruby and Weiss were already suited up and peering at the chaos happening in the bay below.

The sigh of relief that escaped Yang when she saw the Grimm Reaper standing tall, still in tact, only made the anger in her veins run hotter, pissed off that she couldn’t hide her concern for Raven, even if it was only from herself. Then she saw the wreckage laying at the Grimm Reaper’s feet. A half-destroyed Jaeger that looked like it had been patched together from scrap metal.

“Rebels,” Weiss sneered.

There was frantic movement below as medical personnel searched the wreckage for its pilots. Yang’s heart leapt into her throat - Raven was tearing through the wreckage, too, desperation etched into every motion. Qrow started giving his report to a commanding officer on the sidelines when a single limp body was pulled from the giant metal carcass by his twin. Raven cradled the pilot so gently, so carefully that is made Yang’s stomach twist into knots.

“Are the pilots alive?” Ruby asked, one hand pressed against the glass and helmet under her other arm.

Yang stared down at the twisted heap of a Jaeger and the medical personnel shaking their heads at each other as they gave up the search and swarmed the lone pilot. The hull of the Jaeger was half-gone, shredded beyond repair, and Yang swallowed down the nausea bubbling up as flashes of familiar memories from years long past resurfaced. Memories of her parents’ Jaeger twisted and broken, and her dad, alive but alone.

“One of them is.”

Pushing away from the glass, Yang made her way to the infirmary, unsure of what she wanted, or expected, to see when she got there. Her heart hammered in her chest. Raven trailed the medics in, forced to stay as they carried the lone pilot into a private operating room.

Whatever Yang imagined she’d feel in that moment - anger, jealousy, sadness - didn’t come. All she felt was a strange disconnect from this person standing in the infirmary with her, face locked in a stoic expression.

Yang wished she knew what was going through Raven’s head at that moment, wished she knew who the pilot in the operating room was and what they were to Raven. She almost wished she was that lone pilot, if it meant Raven would wear that expression for her, too.

Qrow entered the infirmary and walked to Raven’s side, gently gripping his twin’s wrist. “We need to go,” he whispered.

Raven nodded but didn’t move. “They don’t know anyone here.”

“I’ll take care of them.”

Qrow and Raven both turned to stare, but Yang stood confident in her words. This was her chance to finally know Raven and she had no intention of letting it slip through her fingers. She could watch over this pilot and get the answers she wanted in return.

Raven stepped forward awkwardly, as if approaching a skittish animal, and placed a hand on Yang’s bare arm. The first touch Yang had ever received, and all she felt was smooth texture of the hardsuit, the cold temperature sending a shiver down Yang’s spine.

“Thank you, Yang.”

It didn’t feel special - the touch, the words. It didn’t feel like when her dad ruffled her hair or when Ruby squeezed her hand or when her mom used to softly tap her cheek. It felt like nothing, like an exchange between strangers, and Yang’s heart clenched, aching with confusion.

Unable to form words, Yang only nodded and stayed rooted in place as Raven and Qrow took their leave, not offering any farewells but small smiles that only added to the turmoil in Yang’s gut. The door to the infirmary shut and Yang collapsed into one of the plastic chairs, choked and trembling. She focused on evening out her breathing as she watched the clock. Now all she had to do was wait - and hope - for this pilot to recover so she could ask all the questions she’d never had the chance to voice before.

Finally, she would have the chance to get an answer to her biggest question: who was Raven?


End file.
